Nelia Charalambous : On the $L^p$ Spectrum of the Hodge Laplacian on Non-Compact Manifolds
- Geometry and Topology ( 237 Views )One of the central questions in Geometric Analysis is the interplay between the curvature of the manifold and the spectrum of an operator. In this talk, we will be considering the Hodge Laplacian on differential forms of any order $k$ in the Banach Space $L^p$. In particular, under sufficient curvature conditions, it will be demonstrated that the $L^p\,$ spectrum is independent of $p$ for $1\!\leq\!p\!\leq\! \infty.$ The underlying space is a $C^{\infty}$-smooth non-compact manifold $M^n$ with a lower bound on its Ricci Curvature and the Weitzenb\"ock Tensor. The further assumption on subexponential growth of the manifold is also necessary. We will see that in the case of Hyperbolic space the $L^p$ spectrum does in fact depend on $p.$ As an application, we will show that the spectrum of the Laplacian on one-forms has no gaps on certain manifolds with a pole and on manifolds that are in a warped product form. This will be done under weaker curvature restrictions than what have been used previously; it will be achieved by finding the $L^1$ spectrum of the Laplacian.
Curtis Porter : Straightening out degeneracy in CR geometry: When can it be done?
- Geometry and Topology ( 197 Views )CR geometry studies boundaries of domains in C^n and their generalizations. A central role is played by the Levi form L of a CR manifold M, which measures the failure of the CR bundle to be integrable, so that when L has a nontrivial kernel of constant rank, M is foliated by complex manifolds. If the local transverse structure to this foliation still determines a CR manifold N, then we say M is CR-straightenable, and the Tanaka-Chern-Moser classification of CR hypersurfaces with nondegenerate Levi form can be applied to N. It remains to classify those M for which L is degenerate and no such straightening exists. This was accomplished in dimension 5 by Ebenfelt, Isaev-Zaitzev, and Medori-Spiro. I will discuss their results as well as my recent progress on the problem in dimension 7 (http://arxiv.org/abs/1511.04019).
Lorenzo Foscolo : New G2-holonomy cones and exotic nearly Kähler structures on the 6-sphere and the product of two 3-spheres.
- Geometry and Topology ( 162 Views )Compact 6-dimensional nearly Kähler manifolds are the cross-sections of Riemannian cones with holonomy G2. A long-standing problem has been the question of existence of complete nearly Kähler 6-manifolds besides the four known homogeneous ones. We resolve this problem by proving the existence of exotic (inhomogeneous) nearly Kähler structures on the 6-sphere and on the product of two 3-spheres. This is joint work with Mark Haskins, Imperial College London.
Andrew Cooper : Singularities of Lagrangian Mean Curvature Flow
- Geometry and Topology ( 147 Views )In a Calabi-Yau manifold, mean curvature flow--the downward gradient for the area functional--preserves the Lagrangian condition. Thus Lagrangian mean curvature flow suggests a way to find minimal Lagrangian submanifolds of a CY manifold, provided the flow lasts for all time. However, finite-time singularities are expected along the flow; in fact, ill-behaved singularities are generic in some sense. In this talk we will discuss two main results: one, that type I (mild) finite-time singularities can be predicted by looking the cohomology of the initial Lagrangian submanifold, and two, that type II (ill-behaved) singularities can be modeled as unions of special Lagrangian cones. We will also discuss what these results say about using mean curvature flow to understand the topology of Lagrangian submanifolds.
Ziva Myer : Product Structures for Legendrian Submanifolds with Generating Families
- Geometry and Topology ( 146 Views )In contact topology, invariants of Legendrian submanifolds in 1-jet spaces have been obtained through a variety of techniques. I will discuss how I am enriching one Morse-theoretic invariant, Generating Family Cohomology, to an A-infinity algebra by constructing product maps. The construction uses moduli spaces of Morse flow trees: spaces of intersecting gradient trajectories of functions whose critical points encode Reeb chords of the Legendrian submanifold. I will focus my talk on the construction of a 2-to-1 product and discuss how it lays the foundation for the A-infinity algebra.
Jason Lotay : Hyperkaehler metrics on a 4-manifold with boundary
- Geometry and Topology ( 142 Views )An oriented hypersurface in a hyperkaehler 4-manifold naturally inherits a coclosed coframing. Bryant showed that, in the real analytic case, any oriented 3-manifold with a coclosed coframing can always be locally thickened to a hyperkaehler 4-manifold, in an essentially unique way. This raises the natural question: when can these 3-manifolds with this structure arise as the boundary of a hyperkaehler 4-manifold? In particular, starting from a compact hyperkaehler 4-manifold with boundary, which deformations of the boundary structure can be extended to a hyperkaehler deformation of the interior? I will discuss recent progress on this problem, which is joint work with Joel Fine and Michael Singer.
Dave Penneys : Planar algebras and evaluation algorithms
- Geometry and Topology ( 120 Views )Jones' planar algebras are a useful tool for studying and constructing fusion categories, which generalize the representation categories of (quantum) groups. Thus we think of fusion categories and planar algebras as encoding quantum symmetries. I will give an overview of Jones' planar algebras with attention to specific examples. Along the way, we will discuss several evaluation algorithms which give quantum invariants, including the Jones polynomial.
Igor Zelenko (Texas A&M U) : Gromovs h-principle for corank two distribution of odd rank with maximal first Kronecker index
- Geometry and Topology ( 113 Views )While establishing various versions of the h-principle for contact distributions (Eliashberg (1989) in dimension 3, Borman-Eliashberg-Murphy (2015) in arbitrary dimension, and even-contact contact (D. McDuff, 1987) distributions are among the most remarkable advances in differential topology in the last four decades, very little is known about analogous results for other classes of distributions, e.g. generic distributions of corank 2 or higher. The smallest dimensional nontrivial case of corank 2 distributions is Engel distributions, i.e. the maximally nonholonomic rank 2 distributions on $4$-manifolds. This case is highly nontrivial and was treated recently by Casals-Pérez-del Pino-Presas (2017) and Casals-Pérez-Presas (2017). In my talk, I will show how to use the method of convex integration in order to establish all versions of the h-principle for corank 2 distributions of arbitrary odd rank satisfying a natural generic assumption on the associated pencil of skew-symmetric forms. During the talk, I will try to give all the necessary background related to the method of convex integration in principle. This is the joint work with Milan Jovanovic, Javier Martinez-Aguinaga, and Alvaro del Pino.
Mu-Tao Wang : A variational problem for isometric embeddings and its applications in general relativity
- Geometry and Topology ( 112 Views )I shall discuss a variational problem arising from the study of quasilocal energy in general relativity. Given a spacelike 2-surface in spacetime, the Euler-Lagrange equation for the quasilocal energy is the isometric embedding equation into the Minkowski space coupled with a fourth order nonlinear elliptic equation for the time function. This equation is important in that it gives the ground configuration in GR. In joint work with PoNing Chen and Shing-Tung Yau, we solved this system in the cases of large and small sphere limits.
Wenzhao Chen : Negative amphicheiral knots and the half-Alexander polynomial
- Geometry and Topology ( 74 Views )In this talk, we will study strongly negative amphicheiral knots - a class of knots with symmetry. These knots provide torsion elements in the knot concordance group, which are less understood than infinite-order elements. We will introduce the half-Alexander polynomial, an equivariant version of the Alexander polynomial for strongly negative amphicheiral knots, focusing on its applications to knot concordance. In particular, I will show how it facilitated the construction of the first examples of non-slice amphicheiral knots of determinant one. This talk is based on joint work with Keegan Boyle.